Pyrophoric lighter



Patented Sept. 22, Y1953 PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Herbert Charles HumphreySmyth, Bedford Park,

London, England, assignor of one-half to Alfredv Dunhill Limited,London, England, a British Company' Application November 22, 1950,Serial No. 197,030" In Great Britain December 23, 1949 3 Claims. (Cl.67-4.1)

This invention relates to pyropho'ric lighters of the pocket and/ortable type. More especially the invention relates to operating mechanismfor such. lighters of the kind including springactuat'ed means foreffecting the rotation of the flint wheel tol produce sparks to ignitethe wick.

Ity is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form ofmechanism of this According to'l the present invention operatingmechanism for a pyrophoric lighter comprises a rotatably mounted drivingmember adapted to be rotated in one direction by a spring, gearingconnecting said' member with a rotatable flint wheelv whereby rotationof' said driving member produces a rotation of the int wheel at arelatively higher speed, a latch device for holding said rotatablymounted member" in preset position with its actuating spring in loadedcondition and amanually operable control member so arranged that onmovement in one direction it rotates the driving member against theaction of the actuating spring until it is automatically engaged by thesaid latch, and on movement in the opposite direction the controlmemb'er releases' the latch to free the driving memb'er to be' rotatedby its spring to effect the rotation of the gearing to rotate the flintwheel and produce a spark.

To enable the invention to be fully understood it will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig'. l isl a front view of a lighter partly in section, embodying oneform of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the operating mechanism shown in Fig. 1, butwith the lighter casing removed;

Fig. 3v is a side view of the operating mechn l anism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 shows front and side views of the control or actuating plate;

Fig. 5v shows front and side views of the driving plate;

Fig. 6 shows front and side views of the clutch disc,

Fig.V 'I shows front and side views of the gear Wheel, and

Fig. 8 shows a modied form of driving member. v

As shown in the accompanying drawings a table lighter comprises a bodyportion I having a handle 2 and al pivoted lid 3 adapted to be raised bymanual pressure on a thumb-piece 4. y The lower portion 5 of the body isadapted to serve as a fuel IGSQIVQI and adapted to be filled with fuelabsorbent material in known manner. The body I is formed with. anannularV `flange 6 which supports a plate 'i on which thev lighteroperating mechanism is mounted'. Thebase plate 'I is also adapted toform the top or cover for the reservoir 5, the bottom of which is formedby a detachable base (not shown) of the body I. The plate 'l and base ofthe body aref secured in a gas-tight manner to the bodl7 by a screwadapted to extend through thev base of the body' I and' screw into thescrew-threaded hole 'la on the plate 'I whereby by tightening up thescrew the top and bottom members or the reservoir 5 will be drawntightly onto suitable iianged seatson the body.

Spaced side plates 8, 9' are provided projecting upwardly of the plate1, the ends of. a shaft l0 being journalled in these side plates.. Agear wheel I I is freely rotatablyl mounted on the shaft I0 adjacent tothe plate 8, the gear wheel meshing with a small diameter pinion I2which is rigidly secured to the flint wheel I3, the pinion I2 and ilintwheel being freely mounted for coaxial rotation on the spindle I d whichis journalled in the side plates.

The side face of the gear wheel Il remote from the side plate 8 isformed withratchet teeth I5. A sheet metal disc I6 is rotatably mountedon the shaft ID and includes a resilient tongue I'l adapted to engagethe ratchet teeth I5 and a lug I8 bent to project from the opposite sideof the disc to the tongue and engageable in a recess I9 in a drivingplatev 2B which is rotatable on the shaft IU. Accordingl ly the disc I6forms a one-way clutch device whereby when the plate 20 is rotated in ananticlockwise direction, as viewed in` Fig. l, it will carry the disc I6round with it andthe tongue I1 will engage thev ratchet teeth and rotatethe gear Il, but when rotated in an anti-clockwise direction the tongueI'I will ride over the` ratchet teeth by reason of the resilient natureof the tongue.

The driving platev 20 is provided with lugs 20a, 2Gb projecting fromopposite sides, the lug Zlib engaging the end of a coil spring 2li whoseopposite end rests on a shoulder 22 (Fig. 3l whereby thespring tends torotate the driving plate 20 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig.1.

The lug 20a is adapted to be engaged by a pivoted spring latch 22 whenthe driving plate is in the preset position with the spring in loadedcondition, as shown more particularly in Figs.

1 and 2'.

An actuating or control plate 23 is freely rotatable on the shaft il]and is provided with lugs 24, 25 projecting from opposite sides thereof.The lug 2G is adapted to engage the lug 2Gb for the purpose of rotatingthe driving plate into preset position when the plate 23 is rotated inan anticlockwise direction and the lug 25 being adapted, when the plate23 is rotated in a clockwise direction to engage and displace the latch22 to release the driving plate 2|] to be rotated by the spring 2 l.

The plate 23 is connected by a pivoted link 25 to a depending portion 21on the lid 3.

In the position shown in Figs. l and 2 the mechanism is in presetcondition with the spring 2| stressed. The spring cannot however rotatethe driving plate 2B as the lug 2da of this plate is engaged by thenotch in the spring latch 22 (see Fig. l).

The operation of the lighter is as follows:

The lid 3 is raised by pressing on the thumbpiece il. As the lid risesthe depending portion 2l of the lid pulls the link 25 which is pivotedto the control plate 23 and rotates the latter about the shaft i@ in aclockwise direction. When the lid approaches fully raised position, thecontrol plate 23 will have been rotated to such an extent that the lug25 thereon will engage the latch 22 and move it to the right (as shownin Fig. l) to disengage its notched portion from under the lug 26a. Thedriving plate 20 is now free to be rotated by the loaded spring 2| whoseend bears on the lug 2619 of the said driving plate 2li. It will beunderstood that as the snuifer or wick cover 3&3 is integral with thelid, the wick 29 is fully exposed when the lid 3 is raised.

When the driving plate 2li is rotated by the spring 2|, it carries roundwith it the clutch disc i5, whose lug I8 extends into the recess I9 ofthe plate 253. The resilient tongue |'I of the clutch disc i6 engagesthe ratchet teeth I5 on the gear Wheel and rotates the latter. As thepinion l2 is much smaller in diameter than the gear Wheel i with whichit meshes, the pinion will be rapidly rotated when the gear Wheel i isrotated to produce a rapid rotation of the friction Wheel i3 and anecient spark to ignite the wick 29.

The closing of the lid 3 resets the mechanism and reloads the spring 2|,the operation of resetting being as follows:

As the lid is closed the link 2S is moved to rotate the control plate 23in an opposite direction, that is to say in an anti-clockwise direction.

As the plate 23 is rotated its lug 24 picks up the lug 22h on thedriving plate 20, and rotates the latter against the action of thespring 2|. During rotation of the plate 20I the lug 20a displaces thepivoted latch 22 until the notch on the latter, urged by a suitablespring, snaps beneath the lug 23d whereby the plate 2Q is held in presetposition wherein the spring 2| is Aloaded but is prevented from rotatingthe plate 2i) by the latch 22. The mechanism remains in this positionuntil the latch is released by the reverse rotation i. e. clockwiserotation of the control plate 23, to mv the lug 25 to engage with anddisplace the la c It will be noted that rotation of the control member23 in one direction loads the spring, presets the mechanism and latchesit, and that movement of the control member in an opposite directionreleases the latch, so as to free the mechanism to be actuated by theloaded spring. During the anti-clockwise rQtatiQrl f the Plate 4 253during the :re-setting of the mechanism, the clutch is also rotated inthis direction but the resilient tongue rides over the ratchet teeth l5without rotating the gear wheel Il.

It Will be noted that the gear Wheel Il, driving plate 20, actuating orcontrol plate 23 and the clutch plate I6 are all freely mounted on thesame shaft lll and as, when assembled in the lighter body, the ends ofthe shaft can be shrouded by parts of the body I of the lighter, theshaft can be a loose t in the plates 8, 9. Accordingly the parts of themechanism are easily assembled by unskilled labour, thereby lesseningthe cost of productiton,

In an alternative arrangement the clutch disc i5 may be omitted and thedriving plate 29o (Fig. 8) formed with a series of ratchet teeth 20dadapted to engage with the ratchet teeth l5 on the gear wheel Il. Inthis arrangement the spring 2| would not be so tightly coiled but theadjacent coils would be spaced to permit the plate 28e to move axiallyto the right in Fig. 3 against the force of the spring 2|. Accordingly,the spring 2| would serve to urge the plate 20c towards the gear Wheelto hold the ratchet teeth 25M, in mesh for driving the gear wheel teethi5 but would allow the plate 20c to move axially away from the gearWheel Il, to permit the teeth 2M on the plate 25e to ride over the teethl5 on the gear Wheel When the plate 28C is rotated in the opposite ornon-driving direction.

Instead of the control plate 23 being rotated by the pivoted lid 3, itmay be adapted to be rotated in one direction to load the spring and inthe opposite direction to release the latch 22 by a lever, plunger,slide or like means operable by hand from the outside of the lighterbody.

The provision of the large diameter gear wheel i i permits a rapidrotation of the flint wheel I3 to be obtained to produce an efficientsparking effect. The gear ratio of the gear wheel to the pinion on theflint wheel may be 2:1 or more as desired.

The lid 3 is provided with a snuffer 30 adapted to extinguish and coverthe wick When the lid is closed and further a light spring catch may beprovided to hold the lid in closed position.

I claim:

l. In a lighter, a casing provided with a fuel container, a wick, and afriction wheel for ignit ing said Wick, mechanism for rotating saidfriction wheel comprising a rotatably mounted driving plate having lugsprojecting from opposite side faces thereof, a control plate rotatablecoaxially with respect to said driving plate, spring means engageablewith the driving plate for rotating the same in one direction, a latchdevice engageable with one of said driving plate lugs for holding saiddriving plate stationary in preset position with the said spring inloaded condition, manually operable means for rotating said controlplate in two oppositely disposed directions, means on the control plateengageable with the other of said driving plate lugs when the controlplate is rotated in one direction, to effect simultaneous rotation ofsaid driving plate against the action of the said spring, to engage theiirst mentioned lugs on the driving plate with the latch device, andadditional means on said control plate adapted to engage and releasesaid latch device from said lug when said control plate is rotated in anopposite direction.

2. In a lighter, a casing provided with a fuel container, a Wick and .afriction Wheel for igniting said Wick, mechanism for rotating saidfriction Wheel comprising a rotatably mounted driving plate, springmeans for rotating said driving plate, a latch device for holding saiddriving plate against rotation by its spring, a control plate mountedfor rotation co-aXially with respect to said driving plate, manuallyoperable means for rotating said control plate in two oppositedirections, means on said control plate engageable with said drivingplate to effect simultaneous rotation of the latter against the actionof the spring into aposition wherein it is engaged by said latch devicewhen the said control plate is rotated in one direction, and additionalmeans on said control member operative when the latter is rotated in anopposite direction to effect the release of said latch to free thedriving member to be rotated by its spring to effect the rotation of thefriction Wheel to produce a spark.

3. In a lighter having a rotatably mounted friction Wheel means forrotating said friction wheel comprising a rotatable driving member.spring means for rotating said driving member, gearing operativelyconnecting said friction wheel with said driving member, a control platemounted for rotation co-axially with respect to said driving member,means on said control plate operable when the latter is rotated in onedirection, to effect the rotation of the driving member against theaction of the said spring to preset position, latch means for holdingsaid driving member in preset position, additional means on said controlplate operable when the latter is rotated in an opposite direction toeffect the release of the latch to free the driving member to be rotatedby its spring to effect the rotation of the said friction Wheel toproduce a spark.

HERBERT CHARLES HUMPHREY SMYTH.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,508,600 Guinn Sept. 16, 1924 1,828,887 Aronson Oct. 27, 19311,900,207 Strausser et al Mar. 7, 1933 2,019,435 Blair Oct. 29, 19352,194,844 Bolle Mar. 26, 1940 2,196,879 Trollen Apr. 9, 1940 2,588,231Gessmann Mar. 4, 1952

